May 7, 2009 Steven D. Green (pictured above) was convicted for his crimes in the March 12, 2006 gang-rape and murder of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi,
the murder of her parents and the murder of her five-year-old sister
while Green was serving in Iraq. Green was found to have killed all
four, to have participated in the gang-rape of Abeer and to have been
the ringleader of the conspiracy to commit the crimes and the conspiracy
to cover them up. May 21, 2009,
the federal jury deadlocked on the death penalty.

Alsumaria explained,
"An ex-US soldier was found guilty for raping an Iraqi girl and killing
her family in 2006 while he might face death sentence. . . . Eye
witnesses have reported that Green shot dead the girl’s family in a
bedroom while two other soldiers were raping her. Then, Green raped her
in his turn and put a pillow on her face before shooting her. The
soldiers set the body afire to cover their crime traces."

As
the jury entered the court room, Green(red sweater vest) let out a
large sigh, not of relief, but seemingly of anxiety, knowing the weight
of the words to come. As Judge Thomas Russell stated "The court will now
publish the verdict," Green interlaced his fingers and clasped them
over his chin. Russell read the verdict flatly and absolutely. Green
went from looking down at each "guilty" to eyeing the jury. His
shoulders dropped as he was convicted of count #11, aggravated sexual
abuse, realizing what this means. A paralegal at the defense table
consoled Green by patting him on his back, even herself breaking down
crying at the end of the verdicts.After
Russell finished reading the verdicts, he begged questions of the
respective attorneys. Wendelsdorf, intending to ensure the absolution of
the verdict, requested the jury be polled. Honorable Judge Russell
asked each juror if they agreed with these verdicts, receiving a
simple-but-sufficient yes from all jurors. Green watched the jury
flatly.

Turning to the United States and what may be the only accountability for the crimes in Iraq. May 7th Steven D. Green (pictured above) was convicted for his crimes in March 12, 2006 gang-rape and murder of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi,
the murder of her parents and the murder of her five-year-old sister
while Green was serving in Iraq. Green was found to have killed all
four, to have participated in the gang-rape of Abeer and to have been
the ringleader of the conspiracy to commit the crimes and the conspiracy
to cover them up. May 21st,
the federal jury deadlocked on the death penalty and instead kicking in
sentence to life in prison. Today, Green stood before US District Judge
Thomas B. Russell for sentencing. Kim Landers (Australia's ABC) quotes
Judge Russell telling Green his actions were "horrifying and
inexcusable." Not noted in any of the links in this snapshot (it comes
from a friend present in the court), Steven Dale Green has dropped his
efforts to appear waif-ish in a coltish Julia Roberts circa the 1990s
manner. Green showed up a good twenty pounds heavier than he appeared
when on trial, back when the defense emphasized his 'lanky' image by
dressing him in oversized clothes. Having been found guilty last
spring, there was apparently no concern that he appear frail anymore.

Italy's AGI reports,
"Green was recognised as the leader of a group of five soldiers who
committed the massacre on September 12 2006 at the Mahmudiyah check
point in the south of Baghdad. The story inspired the 2007 masterpiece
by Brian De Palma 'Redacted'." BBC adds, "Judge Thomas Russell confirmed Green would serve five consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole." Deborah Yetter (Courier-Journal) explains,
"Friday's federal court hearing was devoted mostly to discussion of
technical issues related to Green's sentencing report, although it did
not change Green's sentence. He was convicted in May of raping and
murdering Abeer al-Janabi, 14, and murdering her parents, Kassem and
Fakhriya, and her sister, Hadeel, 6, at their home outside Baghdad."

Green
was tried in civilian court because he had already been discharged
before the War Crimes were discovered. Following the gang-rape and
murders, US soldiers attempted to set fire to Abeer's body to destroy
the evidence and attempted to blame the crimes on "insurgents." In real
time, when the bodies were discovered, the New York Times was
among the outlets that ran with "insurgents." Green didn't decide he
wanted to be in the military on his own. It was only after his most
recent arrest -- after a long string of juvenile arrests -- while
sitting in jail and fearing what sentence he would face, that Green
decided the US Army was just the place he wanted to be. Had he been
imprisoned instead or had the US military followed rules and guidelines,
Green wouldn't have gotten in on a waiver. Somehow his history was
supposed to translate into "He's the victim!!!!" As if he (and the
others) didn't know rape was a crime, as if he (and the others) didn't
know that murder was considered wrong. Green attempted to climb up on
the cross again today. AP's Brett Barrouguere quotes
the 'victim' Green insisting at today's hearing, "You can act like I'm a
sociopath. You can act like I'm a sex offender or whatever. If I had
not joined the Army, if I had not gone to Iraq, I would not have got
caught up in anything." Climb down the cross, drama queen. Your entire
life was about leading up to a moment like that. You are a sociopath.
You stalked a 14-year-old Iraqi girl while you were stationed at a
checkpoint in her neighborhood. You made her uncomfortable and nervous,
you stroked her face. She ran to her parents who made arrangements for
her to go live with others just to get her away from you, the man the
army put there to protect her and the rest of the neighborhood. You are
one sick f**k and you deserve what you got. Green play drama queen and
insist "you can act like I'm a sex offender" -- he took part in and
organized a gang-rape of a 14-year-old girl. That's a sex offender. In
fact, "sex offender" is a mild term for what Green is.

Steven
D. Green made the decision to sign up for the US military. He was
facing criminal punishment for his latest crimes, but he made the
decision. Once in the military, despite his long history of arrests, he
didn't see it as a chance to get a fresh start. He saw it as a
passport for even more crimes. What he did was disgusting and vile and
it is War Crimes and by doing that he disgraced himself and the US
military. His refusal to take accountability today just demonstrates
the realities all along which was Green did what he wanted and Green has
no remorse. He sullied the name of the US military, he sullied the
name of the US. As a member of the army, it was his job to follow the
rules and the laws and he didn't do so. And, as a result, a retaliation
kidnapping of US soldiers took place in the spring of 2006 and those
soldiers were strung up and gutted. That should weigh heavily on Steven
D. Green but there's no appearance that he's ever thought of anyone
but himself. He wants to act as if the problem was the US military
which requires that you then argue that anyone serving in Iraq could
have and would have done what he did. That is not reality. He does not
represent the average soldier and he needs to step down from the cross
already.

AFP notes,
"During closing arguments at his sentencing, Green was described
alternately as 'criminal and perverse' and deserving of the death
penalty, and as a 'broken warrior" whose life should be spared'." Brett Barrouquere (AP) has been covering
the story for years now. He notes that Patrick Bouldin (defense)
attempted to paint Green as the victim as well by annoucing that Green
wanted to take responsibility "twice" before but that Assistant US
Attorney Marisa Ford explained that was right before jury selection
began and in the midst of jury selection. In other words, when
confronted with the reality that he would be going to trial, Steven D.
Green had a panic moment and attempted to make a deal with the
prosecution. (The offer was twice rejected because the 'life in prison'
offer included the defense wanting Green to have possible parole.) Steve Robrahn, Andrew Stern and Paul Simao (Reuters) quote
US Brig Gen Rodney Johnson ("Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Criminal Investigation Command") stating, "We sincerely hope that
today's sentencing helps to bring the loved ones of this Iraqi family
some semblance of closure and comfort after this horrific and senseless
act."

Green went into the military to avoid criminal charges on another issue. He was one of many that the military lowered the standards for.

Gary Roedemeier: Crimes were horrific. A band of soldiers convicted of planning an attack against an Iraqi girl and her family.

Melissa
Swan: The only soldier tried in civilian court is Steven Green. The
Fort Campbell soldier was in federal court in Louisville this morning,
facing the victims' family and WHAS's Renee Murphy was in that courtroom
this morning. She joins us live with the information and also more on
that heart wrenching scene of when these family members faced the man
who killed their family.

Renee
Murphy: I mean, they came face to face with the killer. Once again,
the only thing different about this time was that they were able to
speak with him and they had an exchange of dialogue and the family is
here from Iraq and they got to ask Steven Green all the questions they
wanted answered. They looked each other in the eye. Green appeared
calm and casual in court. The victims' family, though, outraged,
emotional and distraught. Now cameras were not allowed in the courtroom
so we can't show video of today's hearing but here's an account of what
happened. (Video begins] This is a cousin of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl
raped and killed by Steven Green. He and other family members in this
SUV were able to confront Green in federal court this morning. Their
words were stinging and came from sheer grief. Former Fort Campbell
soldier Steven Green was convicted of killing an Iraqi mother, father
and their young daughter. He then raped their 14-year-old daughter,
shot her in the head and set her body on fire. Today the victim's
family was able to give an impact statement at the federal court house
the young sons of the victims asked Green why he killed their father.
an aunt told the court that "wounds are still eating at our heart" and
probably the most compelling statements were from the girls' grandmother
who sobbed from the stand and demanded an explanation from Green.
Green apologized to the family saying that he did evil things but he is
not an evil person. He says that he was drunk the night of the crimes in
2006 and he was following the orders of his commanding officers. In
his statement, Green said if it would bring these people back to life I
would do everything I could to make them execute me. His statement goes
on to say, "Before I went to Iraq, I never thought I would
intentionally kill a civilian. When I was in Iraq, something happened
to me that I can only explain by saying I lost my mind. I stopped
seeing Iraqis as good and bad, as men, women and children. I started
seeing them all as one, and evil, and less than human." Green didn't
act alone. His codefendants were court-martialed and received lesser
sentences. Green will be formally sentenced to life in prison in
September. [End of videotape.] The answers that Green gave were not
good enough for some of the family members. at one point today, the
grandmother of the young girls who were killed left the podium and
started walking towards Green as he sat at the defendant's table
shouting "Why!" She was forcibly then escorted to the back of the court
room by US Marshalls. She then fell to the ground and buried her face
in her hands and began to cry again. The family pleaded with the court
for the death sentence for Green. but you can see Green's entire statement to the court on our website whas11.com and coming up tonight at six o'clock, we're going to hear from Green's attorneys.

Steven D. Green was convicted of War Crimes.

Others should have been as well. The fact that others were not does not make Green any less of a War Criminal.

He killed an entire family and Abeer could hear her parents and sister being killed in the other room as she was gang-raped. Then Green came in and took his turn in the gang-rape before killing her. 14-years-old and she's gang-raped as she hears her family killed and then she's killed herself at the end of it.

At which point, Green attempted to set Abeer's body on fire to destroy the evidence.

It was originally reported as an act of 'terrorism' and blamed on Iraqis.

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